Be Yourself. Only Healthier.

The President's Challenge: 10,000 Steps

Dear Seminole State:

As you may have seen in the e-mails that are flying around, many of us are involved in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk which will take place on September 29 in Orlando.

My reason for getting involved was simple; our most recent Outstanding Graduate, Janet Pino, asked me, and I have a history of heart disease in my family. My father had his first two heart attacks before he was 50. Both of my brothers had heart attacks within days of each other, shortly after I came to Seminole State. The younger of the two died. My older brother is still going strong at 75, but he did make some major lifestyle changes. My doctor has assured me that I have my mother's genes and she lived to a healthy nearly 99.

Through education classes offered by the American Heart Association, I have been struck by the statistics that prove how sedentary our lifestyles have become and that we are all at risk for significant health issues. One startling fact is that our children will be the first generation to ave a shorter lifespan than we will. 

So in an effort to improve my own health and encourage a healthy lifestyle for us all, I invite each of you to join me in the 10,000-Step Walking Program. This is a national program that promotes walking as something that we each can do conveniently every day. Our college family can make a statement to the community, other educational institutions and our students that we are aware of the need for physical activity in our day; that we know what the health benefits are in being active; and that we're doing something about it.

Walking 10,000 steps a day is roughly equivalent to five miles and is found to be the number needed to promote long-term health and reduce chronic health risk such as heart attacks and strokes. It will be a challenge for most of us to walk 10,000 steps a day, so establish mini-goals, and soon, you will be learn ways to add steps to your day. I have been keeping track of my steps this past month, and I know that it is tough to get to 10,000; however, I am committed to reaching one million steps by the time of the Heart Walk in September. My official recording time starts on June 1.

There will be a link under Employee Tools and Information in MySCC to keep track of your steps. Have fun with this and challenge your peers. There will be an organized walk every Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus. Watch for times and locations in the SCConnection and SCCToday. Also, look for the routes that are being laid out on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus to help you estimate distances. Thanks to Craig Critchfield, Nana Robertson and Sandy Keeter for mapping our routes!

Getting started is as easy as putting on a pedometer—about $10 at a sporting goods store—and walking outside. Listed below are some simple steps that will get you walking:

• The first week don't change your life at all; just learn your baseline average daily step total by wearing your pedometer from the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed.
• The next two weeks try to boost that average by 20 percent weekly. A reasonable goal for most people is to increase average daily steps each week by 500 per day until you can easily average 10,000 steps per day.

I hope that you will join me in this challenge so that we can "Be Ourselves. Only Healthier."

Sincerely,

Ann

Did you know?

In a recent survey, 95 percent of responding graduates said they would attend Seminole State again and 43 percent rated their overall Seminole State experience as "excellent."